Actress Dame Maggie Smith has been honoured with a new painting unveiled at
the National Portrait Gallery, as the artist reveals her modest first words
to him were “poor you”.

Dame Maggie, who has won seven Baftas and two Academy Awards alongside her most recent popular role in Downton Abbey, is shown in a relaxed pose and casual clothes as she reclines thoughtfully in a chair.

The painting, by James Lloyd, was begun in 2011 and fitted around the Dame Maggie's busy work schedule and was intended to capture her in "everyday" mode.

The six foot by three foot painting was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, and was finally unveiled yesterday, Tuesday, April 9.

Lloyd, who has two other paintings in the National Portrait Gallery, said he was aiming for "understated grandeur" rather than anything too "flashy".

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''I was delighted to be asked by the National Portrait Gallery to paint Dame Maggie Smith, not only because this was an opportunity to have a third painting in the gallery's collection, but also for the honour of trying to portray such a luminary of stage and film," he said.

''I learnt that Dame Maggie had been reluctant to have her portrait painted in the past, and at my first meeting with her, her opening words were, 'Poor you'.

''This was quite the opposite from my own feelings, and everyone to whom I mentioned the commission was extremely envious - I lost count of the number of people who offered to make tea during the sittings.'

"The background is quite stark, and apart from the patterned floor there is little colour bar the neutral greys and browns," he said.

"This directs the concentration on to the warm flesh tones of the face. And with a face and character like Dame Maggie Smith’s that’s definitely more than enough’.

The portrait was created over numerous sittings in the artist's studio, with sketches in oil and charcoal used to finalise the ideal pose along with a selection of photographs.

He disclosed Dame Maggie had been "very happy" to be directed, but that he had chosen to avoid representing her in character or period costume.

Dame Maggie won her first Oscar in 1969 for her performance in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, before winning again in 1978. She is also known to millions for her theater roles, as well as appearances in the Harry Potter films.